


Now That They're Here

by Akoia



Series: The Meaning Of Family [1]
Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Child Abuse, Jason adopts kids, Smoking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-13
Updated: 2018-01-13
Packaged: 2019-03-04 03:06:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13355199
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Akoia/pseuds/Akoia
Summary: Jason is out one early morning when he comes across three young children.





	Now That They're Here

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you very much to jasontodd-is-alive and lokis-helmet for your guys head cannons. You two rock socks!

Jason stumbled out of the convenience store at four in the morning. He rubbed his eyes and yawned, stretching his arms above his head, not minding the plastic bag full of cigarettes, junk food, and booze that hit him in the face. It’d been another long night and Jason just wanted to settle into bed with a bad movie and a microwave burrito, but things were never that easy. Kori had tried her best but the smoke and the shrieking of the fire alarm had said that she’d _failed._ Now the whole house smelled awful, and Jason didn’t have anything to eat. A _bit_ of a setback.

He looked up when he heard screaming from one of the apartments next to the shop. He looked inside and saw the man at the cash register roll his eyes and put his earphones on. He looked back towards the apartment and his eyes widened when he heard a woman scream and glass shatter. He knew he needed to do something, and he was already reaching for the gun in his pocket with a half-baked plan when the door on the bottom floor burst open and three small figures exited.

One was a young girl who looked to be nine or ten years old. She reached down and picked up the youngest child, and held her hand out for the other little boy. She was crying. All three of them were crying. The girl couldn’t see Jason, but he could see her. She had a large purple bruise on her young face. The young boy at her side also looked beaten up. He wiped his tears away with a small fist and Jason’s heart just...broke.

He pushed the gun back into his sweater and took a deep breath. “Hey!” He called out. The little girl snapped her head to him and pulled her younger siblings closer. “Uh, yeah. Are your parents...fighting?” He asked.

“Dad threw us out again.” She said. She eyed him suspiciously and took a step back. “Who are you, what do you want?” She asked.

He knew that suspicious of strangers all too well. “Just someone, who wants to help.” He said. He unzipped his jacket, showing off the red bat symbol on his chest. Her eyes widened and Jason slowly got closer. He got down on one knee. “Do you have anywhere to go right now?” He asked.

He looked down at her feet and shook her head sadly. She had medium length, curly red hair. “Dad kicked us out, and mom won’t come to get us for a few more days. So we’ll just stay out back until then.”

“In the back of the store?” He asked.

“Yeah.”

Jason bit his lip. He knew Roy and Kori were going to kill him. “What’s your name?” He asked her.

“I’m Abigale.” She said, straightening her back. “This is Daniel.” She put her hand on the head of the small boy at her side who was clutch her shirt and looking up at Jason in fright. “And this is our little brother Colin.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Jason.” He held out his hand to the young boy, trying to ease some of his fear. He should have known better. The boy only pushed closer to his sister, hiding his face. He let his hand drop.

“I’ll shake your hand.” The girl said. She offered a delicate hand covered in small scratches. “You work with the Batman right?” She asked.

Jason took her hand and chuckled nervously. “Our working relationship is a bit...rocky at times.” He said. She looked confused.  

“They call you the Red Devil around here. You hurt the bad guys.” She said, reaching out for her brother again.

“That’s right.” He nodded.

“Good.” She said.

“How old are you?” Jason asked.

“I’m eleven.” She said. “Daniel is seven, and Colin is three.”

Jason sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. “It’s not safe out here by yourselves.” He said. “If you wanted, you could stay with me for a little while.”

“Will we get to meet Batman?” Daniel asked, looking up.

“No, but you’ll still get to meet two _really cool_ heroes.” He said.

The girl looked down at her brothers. “Yeah, we’ll stay with you until dad lets us come home.” She said. “Where do you live?” She asked.

Thirty-five miles away. He’d taken his bike there(what could he say, that store had bitchen microwave burritos). Way too far for three little kids to walk. He’d need someone to come pick them up. “I live...aways.” He sighed and pulled out his phone. “I’m going to call a car for us…”

“Let’s just take dad’s.” The girl said. She set the youngest boy down and pointed to a rusty, beaten up, old car. “He don’t need to be driven’ when he’s that high.”

Jason laughed. “Alright, we’ll take your dad’s car.” He’d need to get his bike, but getting these kids somewhere safe and warm was the most important thing at that moment.

The girl walked over to the car and picked up a rock and hit the window. It cracked, but didn’t shatter. She tried again. Third time's a charm. She unlocked the door and flipped open the glove compartment and threw Jason the keys. “Let’s go.” She unlocked the back door. She helped Daniel in the car first before putting their brother on his lap. She slid inside and slammed the door. Jason got in the driver’s seat, not minding the glass. He put the key in the ignition and drove away.

While he drove, he took in the three miles that was affectionately known by the GCPD as Gotham’s ‘Crack Whore.’ He drove past the gate that blocked the rest of the city from the shit hole he was leaving. It was no place for kids. He looked in the mirror and saw that the little boys had fallen asleep. But the girl was staring at him. Her green eyes were _intense._ His eyes flicked down and he saw that she was clutching a large shard of glass in her right hand. She was ready to _murder_ Jason with that thing if he made the wrong move. Her hand was bleeding and Jason winced. They’d have to clean that up before he let her go to bed. Because they _would be_ going to bed when they got to the house.

Jason was tempted to pay a little visit to the piece of shit that had kicked his kids out at four in the morning, in one of the worst parts of the city. He took his eyes off the girl and focussed back on the road. He didn’t know what to do. He didn’t want to let those kids go back there. What if someone with less than pure intentions had come across those kids. What if they were murdered, or mugged, or worse. No, he couldn’t let them go back. Not when he thought about the eyes of a little girl who was so afraid of what Jason may or may not do that she was ready to kill him.

They stopped in front of the house and Jason opened his door. He saw the curtains part and he waved at Kori and Roy nervously. He opened the door on his side, and let the little boy out. Then followed the other two. Daniel was holding Colin, and Abigail was holding her glass knife. He winced when he saw the blood. “You don’t have to be afraid.” He said, but knew it wouldn’t do any good. He sighed, and gestured for them to follow him to the front door. He pulled out his keys, but Kori pulled it open before he could unlock it.

“What is this?” She asked, looking at the young children who had bunched together behind Jason. “Who are they.”

“This is Abigale, Daniel, and Colin. They’re going to be staying with us for awhile.” He said with a forced smile. Kori stepped to the side and Jason walked in, the three children close behind him.

“I’m sleepy.” Daniel said, rubbing his eyes.

“Alright...okay...does the pullout still work?”

“Everytime!” Roy yelled from the kitchen, he walked into the living room and pressed his lips together. “Oh, shit. Sorry.”

“The pullout broke last month.” Kori said. “They may sleep in the guest room. Just move the boxes out of there and I’ll get the air matress.” She said.

“Who are they?” Abigale demanded.

“Oh, this is Roy.” Jason put his hand on Roy’s chest. “And that nice woman is Kori.” He smiled.

“Nice to meet you, sweetheart.” Roy grinned and held his hand out, but let it fall when the young girl glared fiercely at him.

Jason understood. When he had first come to live with Bruce, the kindness around him had been untrustworthy in his eyes. She felt overcrowded, threatened. It had been different when she was in the open air where she could run away if she had too. “Let’s get your hand cleaned up, kid.” He said. “Can I have that?” He asked, pointing at the glass shard.

She looked down at her hand, before reluctantly handing it to Jason. Daniel gasped when he saw the blood, and he looked up at his sister with wide eyes. Roy clicked his tongue nervously. “It hurts.” She said, clutching her wrist.

Jason nodded and gently took her hand in his. “It’s going to need stitches, but I can help you with the pain.”

She nodded.

“Alright, Roy go get the med kit. We’ll do it in the kitchen.” Roy walked off to do as he was asked. The girl looked up at him and rubbed her eyes and yawned softly. Jason led her into the kitchen and the two young boys followed after her. Jason pulled out a chair for her. His nose wrinkled when he smelled what had happened to their poor kitchen.  

She wrinkled her nose, but didn’t say anything. Roy came back with the med-kit and a wet washcloth. Jason handed it to the girl. “Clean that up.” He said, gesturing to her bleeding hand. While she did that Jason threaded a needle. He held out his hand for her, and she did so reluctantly. He turned it over.

She was brave, hardly moving when the needle slipped into her skin. It didn’t take long, thanks to the fact that she didn’t move. He cleaned the stitches off again and wrapped it in a bandage. “Alfred could have done better.” He said with a sigh. “But you’ll be okay.” He clapped his hands and smiled at the three children. “Now, you must all be exhausted. So how about we get you to bed?”

“Alright.” The girl slipped off the chair and grabbed each of her brother’s by the hand. “Lead the way.”

Jason led the three children down the hall. He opened the door to the guest room. He stepped to the side and let the three of them in. He cursed when he turned on the lights. There were so many weapons just _hanging_ on the walls. He grabbed a duffle bag and started to shove the weapons inside. He looked in the closet and found some of Roy’s arrows sticking into a bullseye. Jason quickly shoved those into the bag as well.

The kids were looking at him with wide eyes and he smiled nervously. “Well...good night!” He closed the door behind him. He groaned and rubbed the heel of his palm into his eyes. He had no idea how he was going to take care of three little kids. Not when he could barely manage to take care of myself.            

Jason took the bag into his room and threw it onto his bed. He pulled his phone out and looked down at the screen. He started dialing a number, but stopped. “No…” He said, putting his phone down on the bedside table. “No, it’s fine. We’ll be fine.” He tried to assure himself. “I don’t need help from them.”

He winced when he thought about the large bruise of Abigail's face, of the marks around the baby’s neck. Daniel’s arms. He wanted to pay a visit to that monster and send him to meet his maker. Jason knew how that would play out. _Someone_ would take offence to him murdering someone, and he’d have to leave Gotham with the Outlaws, and being on the run was no environment for kids. So that really wasn’t an option. Letting those kids go back to their awful parents wasn’t an option either.

Jason thought for a moment that maybe _someone_ would take them in, but he worried that if it came to that there’d be three new child soldiers waiting in the wings. He’d never let that happen. No way in hell.

No way in heck.

He had to watch his mouth, now that there were children around.     


End file.
